


Remember Me

by boredomsMuse



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Galra Lance (Voltron), Lance has three parents, M/M, Thace is lances father, i have a thing okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-23 07:10:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14929587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boredomsMuse/pseuds/boredomsMuse
Summary: Back before Kerberos, Lance and Shiro had been close.  Boyfriends, type close.  Boyfriends who'd meet each other's parents, all of them, type close.Except, none of the Paladins know that.  Not even Shiro.





	Remember Me

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Just a quick, unbeta'd thing I wrote over the night. [ If you like my writing, it'd be really cool if you could check out this writing related thing i'm trying to set up here](http://kails-musings.tumblr.com/post/174812529530/lgbta-monthly-stories)

“I should be going down there!”  Lance glared at Shiro as the man got ready to meet the Blades.

“I need someone who can remain calm headed.”  Shiro said, tone tethering on the edge of annoyance. 

“So you’re taking _Keith_?!”  Lance snapped.  “That guys the team’s biggest hothead.”

“Currently, I’d say you’re the teams biggest hothead.”  Shiro argued.

“Only because I’m mad, and for the right reasons.”  Lance huffed.  “He’s going to mess this up.”

“Keith’s my right-hand man, he knows me better than anyone.  I need someone who I can work with without any words.”  Shiro justified.  Lance had to bite the inside of his cheek to hold back the barrage of protests.  It wouldn’t work, Shiro didn’t know anymore.  The thought drained the fight out of him, leaving behind a now familiar ache.

“Whatever.”  He scoffed.  “Just don’t get mad when I say ‘I told you so’.”  With that Lance left the hanger.

 

Lance didn’t end up saying ‘I told you so’.  He was a bit too distracted by, well everything that happened after.  Keith’s injuries and heritage, Allura’s hatred, Kolivan’s judging gaze.  There was a lot more to think about instead of being smug he was right.

“Blue paladin.”  Kolivan greeted from the doorway.  Lance wasn’t happy to admit he jumped, but in his defence, no one was meant to know about this room!  It was small and out of the way, where he could sit and watch the stars without worrying about the others walking in or a bomb going off.  Lance recovered from the surprise quickly, glaring up at Kolivan.

“I can’t believe you put him on trial.”  Lance snapped.  Shiro had told them all about the ‘knowledge or death’ bullshit Kolivan had pulled.  Knowledge or Death his ass, that had been a Memory Trial, meant to force suspected criminals to face their crimes and confess.  They were meant for those that denied even in the face of hard evidence, not some human kid that wondered in with a Mamora blade!

“You’ve been missing for weeks, then a human shows up at my door with a Mamora blade and your long dead lover.  Can you blame me for thinking the worst?”  Kolivan argued, stepping into the room and locking the door behind him.

“I tried to get Shiro to take _me,_ but he wouldn’t listen.”  Lance huffed, turning his glare back to the stars.  Kolivan frowned, taking the seat next to him.

“Is something wrong between the two of you?”  Kolivan asked, deciding to put the ‘long dead’ thing aside for the moment.  He could ask when Lance looked less ready to shoot anything that gave him a reason.

“He doesn’t remember me!”  Lance answered, shouting the words he’d kept bottle for too long.  No one on the castle knew, not even Hunk and Keith.  They were going to tell them after Shiro got back.  They’d talked so much about ‘after Kerberos’, never considering Shiro won’t come back let alone considering the galra would be involved.  “He doesn’t remember us.”  Lance sniffled.  Oh no, when had he started crying?  No, no, no he didn’t want to cry in front of Kolivan.

“He doesn’t remember?”  Kolivan repeated, frown deepening.  Lance hardly tried to wipe away the tears.

“I don’t know how.”  He managed to sniffle out.  “But when he woke up, after we saved him, there was… there was nothing.”

“I’m sorry Lance.”  Kolivan said, not sure what he could say to help.  “What happened to him?  I thought it was reported his ship crashed.”

“The Garrison was lying.”  Lance explained.  “Shiro and his crew, they were taken by the Galra.”

“I see, it’s odd we did not hear about human prisoners.”  Kolivan said.  “I will send word to your father, ask him to look into it.”

“Do you think he knew?”  Lance asked.

“He didn’t report it, even to myself.  It’s unlikely he would have hide that from everyone.”  Kolivan assured.  Lance nodded, trying to believe that.  They slipped into silence, Lance quietly trying to control his tears and Kolivan rubbing his back comfortingly.  “Are you going to tell them?”  The Blade leader eventually broke the silence. 

“I can’t.”  Lance quickly refused.  “You saw how everyone’s treating Keith, and he didn’t even know he was half-galra.”

“I’m sure he’s feeling rather alone because of it.”  Kolivan pointed out.  “He could use your support.”

“He doesn’t want _my_ support.”  Lance laughed bitterly.  “Besides, it’s different.  The team _needs_ Keith.  They don’t need me, if they found out the truth they’d kick me off the team.” 

“I highly doubt that Lance.”  Kolivan frowned.

“Hunk and Pidge have each other, I can’t keep up with them.”  Lance mumbled.  “And Shiro won’t even _listen_ to me.  If he actually had interest in me, there’s no trace of it now.  They don’t need me.”

“Lance.”  Kolivan said firmly.  “Shiro adored you, we could all see it.  Don’t doubt that.” 

“Well he hates me now.”  Lance said.  “Maybe it’s better he doesn’t remember me.”

“I think you’re wrong, Lance.  Your team needs you, and Shiro does not hate you.”  Kolivan said, leaving no room for argument even if Lance didn’t agree.  Which he didn’t.  “But if somehow you are right, and things go wrong, you will always have a home with the Blades.”

“I know Uncle Kolivan.”  Best not to get into his insecurities about that right now then.

 

Could today be any worse?

Lance didn’t think so.  Sure, they’d won the battle, but at what cost?  Shiro was _gone_ , the castle was a wreck, and they couldn’t even be sure how much damage they’d actually done.  Zarkon could be fine, they could have made zero progress right now.

Okay, no.  Lance forced himself to take a deep breath.  He really didn’t need to be thinking about that kind of stuff right now.  Focus on the positives Lance, like his father.  It’d been years since Lance had seen his father in person, and months since he’d be able to talk to him.  Kolivan had been able to send Thace word of the plan and Lance, but Thace hadn’t been able to reply.  Lance was really looking forward to hearing his fathers voice again, to tell him about everything that had had.  The thought brought a small smile to Lance’s lips as he stepped into the control room.

Allura, Coran, and Kolivan stood together, talking quietly. 

No one else was in the room.

“Kolivan?”  Lance said, unable to voice the question on the tip of his tongue.  Kolivan looked over, his eyes conveying an answer Lance didn’t want to hear.  He took one step forward and his knees buckled, sending the paladin to the ground.  “No.”

The explosion had been impossible to miss.  Lance remembered someone, probably Shiro, calling Keith’s name.

 _“I’m fine.”_ The red paladin assured.  “ _One of the Blades saved me.  He, he didn’t make it._ ”  At the time, Lance hadn’t heard Keith’s next words.  Or maybe he had, and he’d just forgotten.  Ignored them.  Pretended it wasn’t real.

“ _His name was Thace._ ”

His father was dead.  Lance couldn’t remember how to… how to anything.  Breath, cry, scream, exist.  How was he meant to do any of that when his father was dead and Shiro was _gone_? 

“Lance.”  Kolivan said his name softly, his hand was resting on Lance’s shoulder, but Lance couldn’t feel it.  “It’s going to be alright.”  The words were incomprehensible.  Nothing was ever going to be alright again, his father was _dead_.  A sob wracked through Lance’s body.  How was he meant to tell his mama and papi?  He’d be right here, he should have been able to save him.  What would his siblings say? 

Lance didn’t notice as he was picked up and carried from the control room.  He couldn’t feel the bed he was genteelly placed on, or hear the soft tone hushing his cries.

It wasn’t worth it.

Whatever damage they’d done to the galra wasn’t worth his father and Shiro.

 

Life went on.  Worse than that, the war went on.  As much as he wanted to, Lance knew he couldn’t just let himself waste away in his room.  So, three days since his… since their battle, Lance dragged himself to breakfast.

“Lance!”  Hunk perked up on his arrival.  Lance was pretty sure Hunk’d been trying to get a response from him every meal.

“Hey.”  Lance managed, though he couldn’t quite remember how to smile. 

“Take a seat bud, I’ll fix you up some breakfast.”  Hunk said, looking a little worried over Lance’s emotionless state.  Lance managed a weak thanks, taking the seat next to Kolivan.  Keith, Pidge, and Allura were sat in their usual seats, all considerably more sombre than usual.

“Lance.”  Kolivan’s voice dragged Lance back to the present.  There was a bowl of food in front of him, when had that happened?

“You weren’t even close to Shiro.”  Keith muttered under his breath, loud enough to be heard in the otherwise silent room.  Lance looked up to the glaring paladin. 

“What?”  He managed, a frown tugging at his blank face.

“You weren’t close to Shiro, you don’t get to be mourning like he’s dead.  He’s just missing.”  Keith elaborated, practically growling.  Lance couldn’t stop the broken laugh that bubbled from his chest.  Yeah, he wasn’t close to Shiro.  It wasn’t like they’d been dating almost a year and a half, like he’d Shiro had met all three of his parents and knew the truth, wasn’t like Lance had anyone to mourn.

“My dad’s dead asshole.”  This was a stupid way to tell them, Lance knew, but he just didn’t have the energy.  So what if they hated him?  So what if they kicked him off the team?  What did any of it matter when his family would never be whole again?

“What?”  Keith frowned.

“You’re not the only that’s half-galra.”  Lance went on, bringing his arms up to hug his sides.  “My dad blew up, remember?  You were the last person to see him.  I never even got to say goodbye.”  He had more to say, but Lance couldn’t manage it through the sobs.  Once, he’d hated crying in front of Kolivan, now he gladly leaned into the Blade leader for support.

“Thace.”  Keith realised, staring wide-eyed.

“You’re galra?”  Pidge frowned.

“Why didn’t you tell us?”  Hunk added.

“You’ve been lying to us.”  Allura concluded, frowning darkly.

“That’s enough.”  Kolivan stood.  “I don’t think Lance is in any state to answer questions, reasonable as they are.”  He started to lead Lance away from the table of confused and betrayed paladins, back to his room.

 

Someone called for the simulation to end, startling Lance out of his focus.  He looked over to find Shiro entering the training room.

“Uh, what’s up?”  Lance asked, letting his bayard slip back into its neutral state.  It took more effort than he wanted to admit.  There was just… something _off_ about Shiro these days.  Lance couldn’t put his finger on what, wasn’t sure he wanted to either.

“Allura told me, about you being half-galra.”  Shiro started, frowning a little.  “Why didn’t you tell me?”  _I did_ , Lance wanted to say, _I told you ages ago_.

“I didn’t know how.”  He said instead, shrugging awkwardly.

“Your father was a Blade member, wasn’t he?  You could have said something when we found out about them.  Or when we found out about Keith.”  Shiro argued.

“You saw how everyone reacted to Keith, I was terrified to say anything.”  Lance admitted, mumbling. 

“We’re meant to be a team Lance, you can’t keep secrets like that.”  Shiro said. 

“You know, I had this conversation with everyone else weeks ago.”  Lance mumbled.  “You don’t need to tell me again.”

“I just want to make sure you’re not keeping any _more_ secrets.”  Shiro said, talking to Lance like he was a child.  Before Shiro had gone missing the second time, even without remembering Lance, he never talked to him like that.  Something was just wrong lately.

“I’m not.”  Lance said, lying.  Shiro eyed him but Lance didn’t back down.  Even if something _wasn’t_ off, he couldn’t tell Shiro the truth.  Shiro probably wouldn’t believe him. 

“Keep up the training.”  Shiro finally said, leaving the room without even a proper goodbye.

 

Watching the Green lion land, Lance wasn’t sure if he should be excited or nervous.  What if Matt didn’t remember him anymore?  Did he know that Shiro didn’t?  What if he mentioned something to the team before Lance could tell him?  Lance had had days to stress over those questions, but he won’t be able to figure out the answers without Matt.

Pidge was grinning ear to ear as she stepped down the ramp, Lance had never seen her so happy.  Matt was just behind her, gushing over something.  The planet maybe, or the lion.  Either seemed like a Matt thing to gush over.  Then he spotted the Paladin’s waiting for them.

“Shiro!”  He greeted first, rushing up to his best friend.  “I thought you were dead.”  Lance heard him whisper.

“I’m fine.”  Shiro assured, hugging him back.  Once Matt had finally pulled away he turned to Lance with an equally wide grin.  So, that answered that question.  Lance couldn’t help but be relieved to know Matt remembered him.

“Hey Lance.”  He smiled, moving to hug the Blue paladin.

“It’s good to see you Matt.”  Lance grinned, hugging him back tightly.

“You guys know each other?”  Pidge frowned, looking between the two.

“Of course?”  Matt frowned back, obviously confused by the question.  That answered question two then.

“You never told us that Lance.”  Shiro said, eyeing Lance in the suspicious way he’d gotten used to.  Matt’s frown deepened.

“We meet through the garrison, he knew my tutor.”  That was technically the truth.  He eyed Matt, trying to convey that he’d explain later.  Luckily, Matt seemed to catch on and didn’t mention Shiro had been that tutor.

 

“I don’t think that’s actually Shiro.”  Matt was the one to say it, sitting with Lance in his usual star-gazing spot.  Lance wished he didn’t agree but he couldn’t pretend anymore, not after the mindscape.

“What can we do?  Voltron was falling apart before we found him, and we have no way of knowing where the real Shiro is.”  He said.

“I can look.”  Matt said.  “It’s probably got something to do with the witch, right?”

“Maybe.”  Lance mumbled.

“We’ll find him Lance.”  Matt assured, managing a smile Lance couldn’t mirror.

“He didn’t remember me.  Even before all this happened.”  Lance said, focused on a star millions of lightyears away.  “Do you think it’s because he hates me?”

“Shiro has never hated you Lance.”  Matt promised.

“But he knew I was half-galra, and then he ended up imprisoned by the galra.  Why wouldn’t he hate me?” 

“That had nothing to do with you.  Shiro knows that.”  Lance shrugged, not really believing Matt but wanting to drop the argument.

“I miss him.”  He said.  Matt’s face softened.

“Me too Lance.”

 

“I found him!”  Matt grinned on the other side of the communication device. 

“Seriously?”  Lance breathed, almost unable to believe it.  “But, how can you know it’s actually him?”  He asked hesitantly.

“According to witch’s files, there was only one successful Project Kuron.”  Matt explained.  “We’re about to break him out, so I can’t talk long.  Just figured you’d want to know.”  He grinned.

“Thanks Matt.”  Lance managed a small smile.  “Call me back when you have him?” 

“Of course.  You should probably tell the others what’s going on.”  Matt nodded.  “Talk to you soon.”  The call cut out and Lance headed quickly to the bridge.  They’d agreed not to tell the team until they’d found Shiro, in case that tipped the witch off.  Lance just hoped they wouldn’t be too mad.

He wasn’t expecting to find the fake Shiro crumpled on the floor when he got there.

“I can’t find a pulse!”  Coran panicked, trying to lift the clone up.  “Team, surely something must have happened?  Did you see him come into contact with any alien chemicals?”  He asked, looking to Hunk and Pidge.  The two humans stared back, both in a state of shock. 

“That’s not it Coran.”  Lance said.  Even knowing it was a fake, he couldn’t look down at Shiro’s body.  “He’s not real.”

“What?”  Pidge wheezed, unable to look away.

“That’s not the real Shiro, it’s a clone.  Matt’s breaking the real Shiro out now.”  He explained.

“That explains it.”  Lotor murmured.  “I thought there was something odd about him, he smelt like the witch.”

“How long have you both known this?”  Allura frowned between them.

“Matt and I figured it out a week ago.”  Lance said, as though he hadn’t had suspicions from the start.  “We didn’t want to risk tipping the witch off, so we didn’t say anything.”

“Smart.  She was properly spying through him.”  Lotor nodded.

“How could we not have noticed?”  Hunk asked.

“You guys haven’t known him long.”  Lance shrugged. 

“And you have?”  Pidge frowned.

“He’s my hero.”  Was all Lance could say to that.  “Matt’s going to call me when he’s got Shiro, it shouldn’t be too long now.  Then we can get his coordinates and jump there.” 

“We should cryofreeze the clone.”  Lotor suggested.  “Just in case she tries to turn him back on.”  Coran nodded, gesturing for Lance to help him. 

“You’re telling Keith.”  Pidge decided, sounding like she was still in a bit too much shock to really process what was going on.  Lance couldn’t blame her.

 

Shiro looked tired when he stepped back onto the castle ship.  That right there was enough proof for Lance.

“Hey guys.”  The black paladin managed a smile.

“I’m so sorry.”  Hunk was already bawling, sobbing out apologies for not noticing they were a fake.  Pidge didn’t say anything, just walked up and hugged Shiro tight.

Lance stayed back.  Don’t get him wrong, he was thrilled to see Shiro alive and well.  But Shiro didn’t remember him.  It was hard to have a tearful reunion when one party didn’t remember how much you loved them.  So, he just grinned from the background, letting everyone else welcome Shiro home. 

It wasn’t until Shiro turned to him that Lance finally offered a wave. 

“Lance.”  Shiro smiled, walking passed the others to him. 

“Welcome home Shiro.”  Lance said, managing a tense smile.  His eyes widened when Shiro placed his hands on Lance’s cheeks. 

“I’m so sorry.”  Shiro said softly.  “I can’t believe I forgot you.”  Lance’s breath hitched.  He couldn’t mean what he thought it did, could it?

“Shiro?”  He asked, unsure and terrified he was wrong.  In answer, Shiro leaned forward and kissed him.  Lance melted into him, kissing back and wrapping his arms around Shiro’s neck.  There was more to talk about, and a team they needed to explain things too, but for a moment Lance let himself forget that.

Shiro remembered him, that was all that mattered right now.

**Author's Note:**

> [ Don't forget to check this out if you're into lgbta+ content!!](http://kails-musings.tumblr.com/post/174812529530/lgbta-monthly-stories)


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